12 and then be executed while i was there. i'm not in a position to say whether either of them -- whether any of them were guilty or innocent. mr. d.a., i am asking you, truly consider leaving the death penalty along. let that be in god's hands, what that person goes through or deals with. there are too many flaws in our system that we cannot control and we cannot trust a man. i am asking you to consider that, to take the consideration of that. the question we did not answer was it one of these guys were in this and that was executed by a prosecutor that had evidence that was clearly convincing that that person was innocent, what would you do? that was a simple question to me. that was not a tricky question. it was a straight up question

dealing with innocence and the prosecutor doing something that was considered murder or attempted murder. you could answer that. you faded around that question, and to me, that is enough to make me think you should consider not dealing with the death penalty and joining in the fight to abolish the death penalty. we went to illinois, and i was with another group. we would go from state to state that have the death penalty and go to legislators and everyone asking them to abolish the death penalty. in the last two years, we have been successful. it appears like we are going to have to put california on our list. but that is all i wanted to say. that is something that once you take a life, you cannot bring it back.

accountability needs to be on your part, too, on the district attorney's part, so if he knew a man was innocent and still prosecuted him, that a straight up murder -- that is straight up murder. that is not malfeasance. [applause] >> i want to thank the public defender's office for putting this panel together. i understand there was a good panel this morning. these are issues that are conflicts, and they require continuing dialogue. the law is not perfect. the law is always evolving. it was an honor also to be with the other panelists here. i think that the issue of the death penalty is one that obviously is right -- ripe for us to bring this back to the voters. i think there is a great deal of

evidence today that speaks to the problems of wrongful convictions. i think we all understand what the factors are. we know there is a problem with wrongful convictions -- convictions. there is certainly a problem with prisoner treatment, and there is a problem with closure to the victims as well as the financial costs. it is up to all of us collectively to talk about how we deal with this and create a more profitable policy around dealing with very serious crimes, and i welcome the opportunity for having been here today. thank you very much. [applause] >> jeff adacci has a few closing remarks. >> i am a public defender. >> good afternoon. i am with the d a's office. >> in closing today's program,

we want to first of all thank all of you for being here and being part of this discussion. no doubt, we achieved a great deal. this was not just another talking head conference where people were just here to give a speech. you really heard engaged discussion from this morning all the way up until now. we thank our panelists because they came here with an open heart and an open mind. we are going to talk in a minute about how we are going to move things forward. i want to thank the staff of the public defender's office and the many volunteers who made this possible. we thank the library staff as well as sfgovtv for their good work here.

john came here because we invited him and because he knew that he is making a difference and will continue to make a difference. after serving 14 years on death row and spending 18 years of his life fighting the case, he continued to fight for justice, and he brought his case to the united states supreme court. he received a $40 million jury verdict, and in april, the united states supreme court overturned that, even though in this case, there were three prosecutors who have -- who were found to have intentionally withheld evidence that would have exonerated him. plus, and this is a great lesson for all of us, it was a prosecutor who was the hero. he stood up and came forward and told everybody what the other two prosecutors did.

when he did that, his efforts were rebuked by the district attorney. as a result, he left his job. it tells you that there are heroes everywhere. people are standing up for justice everywhere. we have to reach everyone everywhere every place in order to solve this problem. we do have a plaque to presented -- present to j.t > as a result of everything he has been through, but more importantly, to help him in the future -- present to j.t. as a result of everything he has been through, but more importantly, for everything he will do in the future. you can support the work he does with a reentry program for persons coming back from prison.

so if we could present this to you. [applause] moving forward, our work cannot stop here. i would like to have christine talk about what we are going to be doing moving forward. we have had meetings with district attorney george gascono about doing things differently. within the police chief, a new district attorney, we have that opportunity -- with a new police chief, a new district attorney, we have that opportunity. i would also like to acknowledge supervisor ross mirkarimi to

come up here just for a moment and say hello, and let me have christine close the program. >> good afternoon, everybody. it was a pleasure to listen to the last panel this afternoon. i am the chief of staff for mr. gascon, and i joined him when he moved over to the d.a.'s office. joining the office on his request, because i think we really have a unique perspective, having worked on the defense side and on policy issues, and i can attest that he is undertaking a wholehearted effort to really bring some reform to the criminal justice system on many fronts, this being one of them that we are evaluating. i hope that you as city and county residents will see in our work that we really take some efforts that will reform. anybody that has participated in the criminal justice system for any length of time knows that it does not work from

whatever and will you are looking at it, so the question is how do we make it better? we hope to engage all of you in that. we are starting neighborhood courts, and a lot of efforts that we hope to engage the city and county in supporting us and looking at ways to move away from the over incarceration of people and look at ways to reform their behavior. the efforts we have undertaken when george was appointed to the position -- jeff asked him to come to the public defender's office to have a question and answer session, which he did, and i attended with him. we are told that was the first time that had ever happened, and we reciprocated by asking jeff to meet with the district attorneys in our office. we have begun a dialogue that both sides think is very healthy. we have identified a number of issues that we think require further exploration, so we are creating working group's staff by the people from the d.a.'s office and the public defender's office to look at improving

things like discovery, which is an important issue, making sure that we have reciprocal discovery and that it is transparent and complete. looking at workers from collaborative courts, looking at solutions besides incarceration, dealing with mental health and behavioral health issues, rather than using the jails as a solution to that, and we are also working around juvenile issues to make sure we are doing all we can for those under the age of 18 in our community. those are the efforts we are undertaking. jeff and matt have been a fantastic partners in this. as far as we know, it is a new day in these efforts and really trying to work collaboratively and we hope to have all your support in doing that. [applause] >> of course, that is not to say that we are not going to fight it out in court because, of course, that is what we do.

i would like to briefly introduce ross mirkarimi, who is a supervisor here in the city, and he has been a champion of many criminal justice issues, including prisoner reentry. i also want to thank and acknowledge debra atherton. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: it is nice to see everybody. jeff is generous. i was not expecting to be up here. i know you have had a productive day. i think that the public defender's summit is something not to be missed and a template for the rest of california and probably the nation to follow. i am proud of our public defender. i am proud of our criminal justice partners because over the last four years, we have seen a great amount of innovation. jeff and i started the city's

first reentry council, and it might be bewildering to you, but before we started it, believe it or not, those stakeholders in the criminal-justice system really very irregularly rarely would come together and talk about ways that we might mitigate, reduce our recidivism rate. great progress has been made, but san francisco still needs to step up its game. i was delighted to hear the conversation that took place here, but no the statistic that for every four people that sanford's is the police department arrests and the da prosecutes, nearly three are repeat offenders -- for every four people that san francisco police department arrests and the da prosecutes -- the d.a. prosecutes. there is evidence to show that doing everything we can to try to divert some of his life from repeating their offense, but we will have to really vigorously

enhance our approach. one way to do that obviously is the collaboration being fostered and demonstrated here today, but it is more than just today. it will have to be every single day, or else california will continue to be building more prisons, and san francisco may not be far behind. thanks. [applause] >> once again, thanks for the flag. [laughter] have a good time. have a good evening. thank you very much. [applause]

>> good morning, and welcome to our city hall.

as you know, yesterday -- first of all, let allthank all the members of the board of supervisors that are here today. it is really great day for our city and san francisco. i want to thank the members who are here, and even those who have not made it here, they have already registered. there certainly here in spirit. yesterday, you heard me talk about our unique opportunity to unite the city and move it forward past old political labels and focus on all of our shared priorities for the city. that is what has been on my mind as i consider this very important appointment to the board of supervisors. as no, i have worked hard to set a new tone of civility, and i said yesterday that ever decision that i make will be in the best interest of all the people of san francisco. that has been my standard and i

expect that of any one that i appointed the board of supervisors to also have. that is why i am extremely excited and proud to announce today might appointment of christina olague as district 5 is supervisor. [jurors and applause] -- [cheers and applause] i have talked to her quite a bit, and i know that she shares my vision of job creation and economic development in putting san francisco back to work. and i know that is also shared by all of the members of our

board of supervisors as well. i know she cares about our neighborhoods and smart economic development, and certainly public safety for our neighborhoods. we also share the same values. in our past, a week -- for both came from backgrounds, fighting for the rights of tenants and immigrants. cristina will work every day for the people of district 5, building on a momentum that so many of our community partners that worked hard to achieve. christina olague brings an extraordinary understanding of city government and land use from her time on the planning commission. i am well aware that this may require her to recuse herself from some of the boats immediately before the board of supervisors. i have considered this. but the strengths of what she brings to the office, in my opinion, vastly overwhelms concerned about individual votes and individual projects. this is not about counting

votes. this is about what is best for san francisco and her district. [applause] congratulations, christina, i look forward to working with you. i know you will do a great job, and this is a great day for san francisco. so if you will step forward. ok, ah, how are you? see, we're working on the last second here. [laughter] please raise your right hand. [laughter] please repeat after me. i, christina olague -- do solemnly swear -- that i will support and defend -- the

constitution of the united states and the constitution of the state of california -- against all enemies, foreign and domestic -- that i will bear true faith and allegiance -- to the constitution of the united states and the constitution of the state of california -- that i take this obligation freely -- without any mental reservation -- or purpose of evasion -- and that i will well and faithfully -- discharge the duties -- upon which i am is about to enter -- during such time as i hold the office of -- member of the board

of supervisors -- and transportation authority -- for the city and county of san francisco -- congratulations. >> thank you. [cheers and applause] >> please welcome the newest member of our board of supervisors, supervisor for district 5, christina olague. [cheers and applause] >> wow. thank you all for coming out here. most of you i have known for a long time.

and, you know, i feel really overwhelmed right now. i am a little nervous. i did prepare a speech, because i was afraid if i did not write things down that i would stumble over my words, but i do want to thank everyone here that i have known and worked with, tenants, activist, and other people that are here. and i also want to thank, of course, mayor lee, for giving me the opportunity to serve and to work with you on the board of supervisors. [applause] i really feel proud to be here standing with you at this moment. so thank you. so, i guess i will go ahead and start my very, you know, i do not know, contrived speech. i hope it is not too contrived. but it is the best i can do. and linda avery herbert, i wanted to point you out. you're sitting in front of me. rita, i feel like i want to name

tom comic role, and everyone, mark. anyway, my sister, my friend joyce from way back. mr. shaw, randy. i will go ahead and start. you know, it was just yesterday that i was standing under the rotunda listening to mayor lee's inaugural speech, and i think this is an incredible time for our city. a time where the city is coming together and moving past the old political pigeonhole. i want to say first and up front that we are the city where everyone is included. we are the city for everyone. our priorities are clear. we need to focus on jobs and smart economic development for all of our neighborhoods and rolled up our sleeves, get to work, and get things done. to the people of district 5, mayor lee and i share the same standard, that every decision i

make will be what i believe are in the best interests of my constituents and the people of san francisco. i think you all know that i am is following in the footsteps of great supervisors who have represented district 5, starting with harvey milk, harry brit, matt gonzales, and ross mirkarimi. matt, i know that you're here today, and i want to thank you for your counsel and for being present and for being supportive of me today. [applause] nauert it is time -- now it is time to step up. it is might turn out to represent. it is an enormous challenge and responsibility, and i realize that. but one that i embrace, and i will work my hardest to, you know, to really meet with

everyone, to understand what the concerns are. you know, it will be a lot of work, and we will hit the ground running, probably in about five minutes. [laughter] anyway, i did want to acknowledge my background. appointments usually do not happen to people like me. i grew up working class, poor. i grew up in the farm labor camp in a town called firebomb, you know, the central valley. with a stainless steel spoon in my mouth, i guess, and a tortilla, in my case. my parents cannot avoid -- afford to send this to fancy schools, so the script of what they could and sentenced to a catholic school. do not be shocked for those of you know me, but i spent eight years learning etiquette and all those things, praying every day and taking it catechism, all that. they sacrificed a lot for me and my sister, and we promised to stay true to ourselves and our

passions. i am going to take my parents' advice to heart in my work at the board. in moving the city forward. i agree with an approach that focuses less on a site issues and more on bringing people together to address the problems that we face. because there are simply too many conflicts and issues, including the creation of good paying jobs, which i think should be one of the top priorities, and i am sure it is a concern to many of the constituents in district 5. strategies to deal with changes in redevelopment and its impact to our city. improvements to public safety in district 5, and the exploration for obtaining more affordable middle, lower, income housing. these are the basic kinds of issues i want to tackle. with all of your help, i believe we can make the kinds of lasting impacts that will improve the daily life for all of us here in san francisco. finally, i want to conclude with a pledge to the residence in d- 5.

i know you did not elect me, but i promise you i will work hard to earn your respect and trust. i am prepared to go that extra mile on your behalf to improve the neighborhood for everyone. the rich and the poor alike. again, i want to thank all of you, all of my friends here and new friends and people that i obviously, you know, will spend time with learning more and more about the issues that, you know, you are concerned about. i just want to thank you for coming out and sharing this very special moment with me. so thank you. [applause]

>> everybody, congratulate christina olague. thank you very much. we're going right to work. thank you.